Patriots beat Baltimore with straightforward dominance on ground

It's not that the Patriots were trying to catch the Baltimore Ravens off-guard in any way.

Brian MacPherson Journal Sports Writer brianmacp

FOXBORO -- It's not that the Patriots were trying to catch the Baltimore Ravens off-guard in any way.

"You're not going to trick the Ravens," New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said. "You're not going to beat them that way."

But Baltimore nonetheless seemed ill-equipped for what the Patriots threw at them on Sunday. An offense that has been defined for more than a decade by the right arm of Tom Brady gained almost as many yards on the ground (142) as it did through the air (158). It was the first time since early November the Patriots had rushed for more than 120 yards in a game. Not coincidentally, it was the first time since late October Brady had passed for fewer than 250 yards. It was just the third time all season the Patriots ran the ball more than they passed it.

That New England would dominate on the ground shouldn't have been a surprise in itself. The Patriots had that capability. They'd rushed for at least 130 yards in six of their first nine games this season.

That New England would dominate on the ground against Haloti Ngata and a top-10 rushing defense like the Ravens, however, was a bit more of a surprise -- to those outside New England, anyway.

"We certainly want to try to do things that we feel like we can do well regardless of who we're playing," McDaniels said. "Then we also want to try to factor in the different variables in terms of matchups, personnel, all of the different things that go into each player, each series in the game, you want to factor into those things too, because they can certainly give you the best chance to be successful."

Sunday marked the first time in three weeks that two different New England running backs had gotten 10 or more carries in a game. LeGarrette Blount rushed 16 times for a season-high 76 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and the redeemed Stevan Ridley rushed 15 times for 54 yards -- his most productive game since early November, before his tendency to fumble dropped him on the depth chart.

"We split the reps up pretty evenly during the week, and they all are expected to be able to execute our run game, whether it's from one grouping or another," McDaniels said. "I think that's really what you saw yesterday. It wasn't a real big change in terms of what we were trying to do. I mean, they were each running the same styles of runs, and I thought they each had some good runs in there during the course of the game."

When the Patriots took over at midfield midway through the fourth quarter, Ridley and Blount combined to rush on nine straight snaps for a combined 40 yards, and Blount finished off the drive with the touchdown that effectively ended the game.

"We wanted to stay balanced," Brady said in an interview with WEEI. "We always want to stay balanced. It just turned out that our execution in the run game was really good all day, and our execution in the pass game probably wasn't as good as what it's been. As the game evolved, we got out to a lead and then tried to just play smart and play aggressive, try to play aggressive, but for the most part try to force them to defend our running game. Our running game really set the tone there the whole second half."

With the losses the Patriots have suffered among their pass-catchers -- starting with Wes Welker in the offseason and including Rob Gronkowski, lost for the season with torn knee ligaments -- a productive running game could be a recipe for success in January.

What the Patriots did against Baltimore isn't something they couldn't do against any other opponent in the playoffs.

"Our run game, it may change formations or what have you, but I think by this time of the year, you kind of are what you are to some degree," McDaniels said. "You could add a wrinkle or two here or there, maybe change up a blocking pattern or what have you, but the bottom line is at this point is you've got to block people and you've got to run hard, and you've got to read the runs properly based on the way the defense aligns their fronts and puts their defensive players in different positions. We've got to coordinate our blocking schemes that same way. I think the bottom line is, if you can get them covered up and get the backs started, you've got a chance. I don't think there was a whole lot of new stuff yesterday. We just came out and tried to get a hat on those guys up front."